Now boasting a wide-ranging catalog, even in the hi-fi department, sometimes with products only slightly modified from those in the pro range (the excellent Phonitor xe headphone amp, for example), German manufacturer SPL has added the Phonos duo to its range of phono preamplifiers.
Still obviously in a compact chassis, in this case of the same dimensions as the Phonos, the Phonos duo adds a pair of balanced XLR inputs and outputs in addition to the RCA pairs, the only ones available on the Phonos. Otherwise, it offers the same parameters as its little brother, nut always better. Gain is now selectable as high, mid or low, and ground is now equipped with a small “Ground Lift” button that can be used to cancel noise by modifying isolation, in addition to the ground terminal, which is obviously still present.
The internal circuitry doesn’t appear to have undergone any major changes, with RIAA equalization still based on a design created by Douglas Self. As for the power supply, it retains the highly effective proprietary VOLTAiR technology, which converts the internal current to 120 V, at + or – 60 V. A subsonic filter is activated by a small switch, but this is marked “Rumble” rather than “Subsonic” on the Phonos.
Capacitance options for MM cartridges increase from 3 to 6 on the Phonos duo (from 12 pF to 330 pF), while impedance choices remain at 6 variables, but much lower and therefore more suited to high-end cells. Where the Phonos offers from 100 Ω to 10 kΩ via 4 kΩ, the Phonos duo holds steady from 20 Ω to 1 kΩ, much more in correlation with cartridges used by XLR connection enthusiasts.
As for the price, it rises from 1 999 € for the Phonos to 2 999 € for the Phonos duo.
20/06/2025
